Hambantota (Sri Lanka), Aug.16: Australian batsman Ricky Ponting has said that he can understand the challenges facing Sri Lanka captain Tillakaratne Dilshan, who is without the services of retired greats Sanath Jayasuriya and spin-bowler Muttiah Muralitharan.
And after overseeing the exit of Australian cricketing champions like Shane Warne, Glenn McGrath, Adam Gilchrist and Matthew Hayden, Ponting can see similar challenges ahead for Sri Lankan cricket.
"There''s no doubt without him (Muralitharan) in their side they''re not quite as potent as they once were but these guys can''t play forever," Ponting said.
"We''ve been through that the last few years with some of our guys moving on and we''ve had to find guys that can come in and win games of cricket for us and Sri Lanka are finding that out now as well," the Age quoted him, as saying further.
However, Dilshan said the challenge is for one of his current spin bowling crop to rise to the challenge of becoming the nation''s new hero.
"(For) any captain it''s a bonus to have a guy like Murali, but now we have to use our other spinners to get something from somewhere to win the matches.We''re still looking for some spinners to fit in for Murali. We can''t find another Murali but we have a few good spinners, we have to try them and see if they can win matches for Sri Lanka," he said.
Australia could take an unassailable lead in the five-game series with victory in Tuesday''s clash, which starts at 2.30 p.m. local time.
© ANI
